The present invention relates to a taco holder and more particularly to a taco holder having provision for grasping the taco shell with the fingers with reduced inconvenience and of sufficiently economic construction as to be suitable for disposable use or retention by the customer as a favor.
The taco is a sandwich in which finely cut foods such as lettuce, onions, meats and cheeses are piled into a cooked shell. If the shell is folded to form a V-shape, which is a common type of sandwich becoming quite popular in this country, there is great difficulty in retaining all of the food within the partially eaten sandwich when it is placed on a plate or a tray, and the problem is worsened by the tendency of the sandwich to roll over on its side.
This difficulty has long been recognized, and many efforts have been made to cope with it.
For example, a variety of specially designed holders have been produced to support the taco in its upright position when rested on a tray between bites or sampling. Holders of this type are shown in Design U.S. Pat Nos. 257,932, 259,010, 264,668, and 270,027. Also utility U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,501 discloses a tray for supporting tacos while U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,901 shows a similarly featured frankfurter holder.
All the holder designs referred to above have one principal feature in common. The uneaten or partially eaten taco is held upright when it is placed in the cradle provided for it, and in so doing, reduces substantially the tendency for the small pieces of food to roll or slide out of the taco shell.
However, the preceding taco holders have substantial drawbacks which have limited severely their usage. When the partially eaten taco is in its cradle on the holder, at some point the entire remaining taco will be fully enclosed by the side walls of the cradle so that it becomes messy for the fingers to grasp the sandwich.
Another drawback of the holders shown in the aforementioned patents is that the designs are sufficently complex as to be too expensive either to be disposable or to be given away by the fast food enterprises as favors.